In U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,497 to Porteous, there is disclosed an electric water bath heater which has been a market success for many years. The disclosure of earlier patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,497 is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Despite its outstanding commerical success, many features which the modern practioner would find useful have not been available on the patented device, such as those advantages and features of my new apparatus which are set out above.